Thousands of Sandy-damaged buildings will need to be reassessed

Officials fear local property taxes could rise to pay for cleanup

Dec. 4, 2012

Debis is strewn across Front Street at the Perth Amboy Harborside Waterfront Park building in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Boats, parts of the dock and other debis were washed a shore by the tidal surge caused by Hurricane Sandy. / MARK R. SULLIVAN/STAFF PHOTO

The race is on by tax assessors across the state to reassess thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed by superstorm Sandy before the end of January.

Those reassessments could affect the bottom line revenue figures for municipalities as officials start drafting 2013 budgets and grapple with storm cleanup costs. Some officials fear local taxpayers may have to make up the difference, if there is a loss in the property tax base.

But first comes the job of reassessing up to 20,000 storm-damaged properties in Monmouth County alone, said Matthew Clark, Monmouth County tax administrator.

Property owners face a Jan. 10 deadline to notify their local tax assessor or the Monmouth County tax board either in writing or by using a form introduced Friday on the county website to file for reassessment of storm-damaged buildings.

In Ocean County, taxpayers can fill out a material damage form on the tax board’s website. Ocean County taxpayers should notify their local tax assessor by Jan. 10 that they need a reassessment because of storm damage, tax board officials said.

The sooner taxpayers notify their local or county assessor, the better, Clark said, because of the massive amount of properties to be inspected.

“We’re flying as quickly as possible because of the calendar,” said Clark. He’s received letters from 50 property owners or their attorneys notifying the county tax office of storm damage.

Monmouth County taxpayers with storm-damaged property will be able to track some information online through a Google maps function on the county website, Clark said. Through that online map, property owners can verify that their request for reassessment was submitted and verified and if an inspection has been made, Clark said.

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Each property will be represented on the map as a “bubble” that will change color once it has been inspected, Clark said. It will not tell the owners the outcome of the inspection, he said.

Owners will be notified by mail of the outcome of a reassessment and if they disagree with it, they can appeal it using the regular tax appeal process, Clark said.

However, if a property owner has repaired their buildings by Jan. 1, there will be no need for that property to be reassessed, provided the work is completed by Jan. 1, Clark said.

Some of the inspection work should be under way now, said Andrew Pratt, state Department of Treasury spokesman.

“They’re (assessors) supposed to be going around now and looking at buildings that were affected,” Pratt said. “We told them not to wait to reassess property if they see (damage). If they see a neighboring property (with damage) they should reassess that property.”

Inspectors will use a state form that has 10 levels of storm or flood damage, which corresponds to a percent reduction in assessment based on the severity of the destruction.

Some officials, such as Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, are looking at “bridge loans” to cover expenses between the recovery period and reimbursement, Dressel said.

“There have been some very innovative financing arrangements made by banks to deal with those situations,” Dressel said. “The Small Business Administration and FEMA have gotten some additional funding to deal with those situations.”